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- BIOGRAPHY
Bruno I was the son of Reimbold von Isenburg, but his mother's name is not known. Mentioned between 1179 to 1198, he was the builder of the castle of Braunsberg, and called himself 'Herr zu Braunsberg' after it. He founded the Isenburg-Braunsberg line of his house.
With his wife Theodora von Wied he had four children of whom Bruno II and Agnes would have progeny. After the death of his brother-in-law Lothar von Wied, Bruno's sons Bruno II and Dietrich inherited the county of Wied, along with two cousins of the house of Eppstein. Bruno's third son Arnold became archbishop of Trier.
Bruno had manorial rights in the Neuwied Basin and around Dierdorf. He could not increase his land holdings through his marriage, as in 1190 he was compensated financially by Graf Dietrich von Wied.
By about 1200 the Isenburgs had divided into four lines. This led him to build a new castle for himself and his line. As the site for his castle he chose a rocky outcrop above the Aubach valley. He had acquired the castle grounds and the surrounding forest from Abbot Elias of the abbey of Rommersdorf in exchange for a vineyard in Langendorf (now in the city of Neuwied in the Rhineland-Palatinate).
In the selection of the site its proximity to the old 'Rhine Road' from Heddesdorf via Dierdorf to Hachenburg, connecting to the main road between Cologne and Frankfurt, would have played a role. The castle of Braunsberg was only a few hundred metres from this road, enabling Bruno to collect tolls and exercise control over traffic on the road.
Bruno died before 1210.
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